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Got any good gargle?

Now that the messiah is planning to have his minions 'shove it down your throat', you might need one.

For those that wish to believe that pack of lies and deceit spewed out by BHO today, you won't be needing the gargle, just some vaseline.

Hey folks, this so called healthcare is NOT about saving you any money on your hospitalization, or getting lower rates for your insurance...it's about POWER.

We are witnessing what Mr Bonner calls...

The Zombie Economy

Re-animating an Economic Corpse With an Artificial Recovery

Bill Bonner

The zombies are taking over!

Noise. Distraction. Headlines. Opinions.

The important trend is the big one – the shift of resources from the private sector to the public sector.

During the bubble years, the private sector made a big, big mistake – taking on far too much debt.

Now, it is correcting its mistake...reluctantly, painfully, and with plenty of foot-dragging and interference from the government. Instead of letting the dead die in peace...the feds are pumping financial adrenaline into their veins...turning them into zombies.

It’s expensive work...so government is now making the same mistake the private sector made a few years ago. It’s pretending that debt-fueled spending is the same as growth. Ain’t no such thing.

The feds’ “growth” is even more pernicious and counterfeit than the bubble era growth in the private sector. At least people actually wanted houses...they just couldn’t afford to pay for them.

The feds, on the other hand, produce things that people wouldn’t buy even if they had the money – zombie products. Who would buy a billion-dollar software program to spy on other people? Who would pay other people to do nothing? Who would take on the debts of a failing financial institution?

Consider this, from Bloomberg: “Fannie Mae will seek $15.3 billion in US aid, bringing the total owed under a government lifeline to $76.2 billion, after its 10th consecutive quarterly loss.

“The mortgage-finance company posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $16.3 billion, or $2.87 a share, Washington-based Fannie Mae said in a filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Fannie Mae, which owns or guarantees about 28 percent of the $11.8 trillion US home-loan market, has been hobbled by a three-year housing slump that wiped 28 percent from home values nationwide and led to record foreclosures. The company, which posted $120.5 billion in losses over the previous nine quarters, and rival Freddie Mac were seized by regulators in September 2008.”

Did you read that carefully? Fannie Mae guarantees almost a third of the $12 trillion home mortgage market – or about $4 trillion. And guess who guarantees Fannie Mae? You do!

Fannie made bad loans. It ought to be put down, like a horse with a broken leg. But Fannie’s bondholders don’t take a loss. The losses have been moved to the public sector and Fannie itself has been turned into a zombie company.

Assets, liabilities, spending – it’s all shuffling over to the government...and sucking the life out of the private sector. In the area of durable goods, only about 4.4% of them, on average, were purchased by the pentagon over the last 17 years. But since the beginning of the financial crisis, durable spending by private industry decreased...while pentagon spending went up. The most recent figures show that 8% of durable orders are now bought by the military.

Recovery? Don’t bet on it. This government spending only makes it look like a recovery. The numbers may show an increase in durable goods sold, but tanks and armored personnel carriers don’t lead to genuine growth. They lead to Soviet-style zombie growth...by the government, of the government, and for the government. The rest of the economy shrinks.
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Am I the only one that has any fear for what is happening to this country? Do you realize that if this Obama healthcare becomes law, it will be another entitlement that just won't be overturned by some conscientious voters concerned about their country. It will be the end of the beginning, and the crumbling of the U.S. Constitution will not be stopped. Nor will the bankruptcy of the nation be avoided.

UB

When the one you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure.

"Those big-ticket items, fixing our health care system. You know, one of the arguments that I get with, uhh, my fellow progressives and -- and some of these have -- have flashed up in the blog communities on occasion --is this notion that we should function sort of like Karl Rove, where we -- we identify our core base, throw 'em red meat, we get a 50 plus one, uhhh, victory. See, Karl Rove doesn't need a broad consensus because he doesn't believe in government. If we want to transform the country, though, that requires a -- a sizeable majority."

And he said the same thing in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

There has never been a bigger liar in the history of United States than B. Hussein Obama. Not even Dick Nixon comes close.

"Those big-ticket items, fixing our health care system. You know, one of the arguments that I get with, uhh, my fellow progressives and -- and some of these have -- have flashed up in the blog communities on occasion --is this notion that we should function sort of like Karl Rove, where we -- we identify our core base, throw 'em red meat, we get a 50 plus one, uhhh, victory. See, Karl Rove doesn't need a broad consensus because he doesn't believe in government. If we want to transform the country, though, that requires a -- a sizeable majority."

And he said the same thing in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

There has never been a bigger liar in the history of United States than B. Hussein Obama. Not even Dick Nixon comes close.

It's fascism on steroids.

We live in Cuba now.

He is eating his hat on those words, no doubt. He's learning though. In todays political environment, you NEED reconciliation to get anything passed. I think that's very unfortunate. The art of compromise is lost.

He is eating his hat on those words, no doubt. He's learning though. In todays political environment, you NEED reconciliation to get anything passed. I think that's very unfortunate. The art of compromise is lost.

DNF, I agree with your 1st, 4th, and 5th sentence. Are you implying that he is becoming a better leader with the 2nd sentence?

In todays political environment, you NEED reconciliation to get anything passed. I think that's very unfortunate.

I think it's very unfortunate that you blindly parrot Obama/DNC talking points. Aside from health care, name some other significant legislation that is stalled in the Senate right now. The fact of the matter is that up until now, Obama has received from Congress everything he's asked for.

"You gotta break out of what I call the sort of 50-plus one pattern of presidential politics. Maybe you eke out a victory with 50-plus-one but you can't govern. You know, you get Air Force One and a lot of nice perks as President but you can't -- you can't deliver on health -- we're not going to pass universal health care with a -- with a 50-plus-one strategy."

And if you have a democrat Congressman sittin' on the fence and undecided on which way he'll vote you can always appoint his brother a Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit Court and buy he freakin' vote and get your Bill passed.

I think it's very unfortunate that you blindly parrot Obama/DNC talking points. Aside from health care, name some other significant legislation that is stalled in the Senate right now. The fact of the matter is that up until now, Obama has received from Congress everything he's asked for.

How bout the legislation that would have curtailed the 21% medicare reimbursement cuts for starters?

And I'll take credit and blame for my own talking points, unless I reference someone else, thank you.

Here is an interesting graph that shows the net effects of two pieces of legislation on the federal budget deficit passed by Repubs under Bush using reconciliation and also the projected effect of the Senate health care bill (CBO numbers in billions of course).

Guess which two bills passed under reconciliation had the largest and most negative impacts on the budget deficit?

Imagine that. Two bills passed through reconciliation by Repubs have had far great consequences on the federal budget than expected by the health care bill.